2 Gypsy Joker gang members get life in federal prison for kidnapping, murdering former member

Two members of the Gypsy Joker Outlaw Motorcycle Club were sentenced to life in federal prison Thursday for kidnapping, torturing and murdering former Portland club member Robert Huggens in 2015.

Portland clubhouse president Mark Leroy Dencklau, 61, of Woodburn, and clubhouse member Chad Leroy Erickson, 51, of Rainier, face life in prison after jurors found them guilty of murder in aid of racketeering; kidnapping in aid of racketeering, resulting in death; kidnapping resulting in death; and conspiracy to commit kidnapping, resulting in death, in December according to a release Thursday from the U.S. Attorney's Office, District of Oregon. Dencklau was found guilty of racketeering conspiracy, while Erickson was acquitted of the same charge.

Previous coverage:Jurors dismiss racketeering charge against Gypsy Joker gang member Kenneth Hause

“Mark Dencklau and Chad Erickson will rightfully serve the rest of their lives in federal prison," Scott Asphaug, U.S. Attorney for the District of Oregon, said in a statement. "These men prided themselves in using violence to intimidate others and increase their power and influence among club members and rivals. Organized violent crime has no place in Oregon and will not be tolerated."

The club is described as a hierarchical criminal organization where members maintained their status by participating in acts of racketeering including murder, kidnapping, robbery, extortion and narcotics trafficking, according to court documents and trial testimony.

Since the 1980s, the club has been active in several states including Oregon and Washington and, until recently, operated six clubhouses in the Pacific Northwest, including one in Salem. The club also has international chapters in Germany, Australia and Norway, according to U.S. Department of Justice officials.

The club oversaw multiple support clubs in Oregon and Washington, including the Road Brothers Northwest Motorcycle Club, Solutions Motorcycle Club, Northwest Veterans Motorcycle Club, High-Side Riders and the Freedom Fellowship Motorcycle Club, department of justice officials said. Support club members conducted criminal activities in support of the Gypsy Joker club and served as a source of new members and revenue for the club, federal officials allege.

Dencklau served as president of the club's Portland chapter from 2003 until his arrest.

On July 1, 2015, Robert Huggins, a former member of the Gypsy Joker's Portland chapter, was found lying in a field in Clark County, Washington, department of justice officials said.

Huggins' body was badly beaten and he appeared to have been tortured before his death.

Huggins was previously stripped of his club membership for allegedly stealing from the club and, after breaking into Dencklau’s Woodburn residence, tying up Dencklau’s girlfriend and stealing multiple firearms, officials said.

Dencklau and others kidnapped Huggins June 30, 2015 from a Portland residence and brought him to a rural property in Southwest Washington where they tortured and beat him for several hours.

Huggins suffered a fractured skull; lacerations to his chest and torso; and removed nipples. A medical examiner ruled his death was caused by multiple blunt and sharp force injuries.

Several members of the club, including Dencklau, Earl Fisher, 48, of Gresham, and Tiler Evan Pribbernow, 40, of Portland, were indicted in June 2018 on murder in aid of racketeering; kidnapping in aid of racketeering, resulting in death; kidnapping resulting in death; and conspiracy to commit kidnapping, resulting in death.

That November, Dencklau; Fisher; Erickson; Kenneth Earl Hause, 64, of Aumsville; Ryan Anthony Negrinelli, 36, of Gresham, Oregon; and Joseph Duane Folkerts, 61, of Battleground, Washington, were charged by superseding indictment with racketeering conspiracy.

In December 2021, the same jurors who convicted Dencklau and Erickson, dismissed a lone racketeering conspiracy charge against Hause, the club's national president and a longtime Aumsville resident, according to federal officials.

After pleading guilty to a conspiracy charge, Pribbernow was also sentenced April 12 to more than 11 years in federal prison. Fisher, Negrinelli, and Folkerts, who all pleaded guilty to the same charge, are awaiting sentencing, officials said. They face a maximum sentence of life in federal prison.

The case was investigated by the Portland Police Bureau and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, the U.S. Marshals Service, IRS-Criminal Investigation, the Clark County Sheriff’s Office, Oregon StatePolice, and the Oregon and Washington State Crime Labs, officials said.

Virginia Barreda is the breaking news and public safety reporter for the Statesman Journal. She can be reached at 503-399-6657 or at vbarreda@statesmanjournal.com. Follow her on Twitter at @vbarreda2. Unmute

This article originally appeared on Salem Statesman Journal: 2 Gypsy Joker gang members get life sentences